Gosh, stuck between deciding which shadowy group of conspirators is more sinister, Mandatory Flouridation or Big Oil.

xzzy
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2014-01-27T22:09:00Z —
#23

"I can imagine that oil might work slightly better due to viscosity and lubrication"

Wouldn't lubrication make it work worse? I mean that's why toothpaste is effective.. it's an abrasive. You grind it into your teeth with a brush and it sands away the crap that gets stuck to your teeth over the course of a day.

Unless there's some magical capacity for oil to attack bio-crud and break it up, I would think that one could swish just about anything and get the same results.

retchdog
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2014-01-27T22:17:12Z —
#24

i dunno. it lubricates the dental/gingival surfaces but also the particles. i would think it depends on how firmly embedded the particles are, and whether the particles are superficially hydrophobic (e.g. shreds of greasy meat).

note, brushing and flossing are totally different things. brushing is mostly to scrub away acid and break apart plaque. flossing (swishing, waterpik, etc.) is mostly to remove particles of food from gingival pockets, so they don't fester in your gums.

at any rate, what harm is it doing? why suddenly all the concern for the 20 minutes a day a few anonymous people are 'wasting' on something which is probably helpful and, at worst, only useless?

[ah, okay, yeah, doing this instead of brushing is a terrible idea. i missed that part.]

GilbertWham
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2014-01-27T22:24:01Z —
#25

Don't care. Same with wine tasting, I ain't swilling no booze round my mouth then spitting it in some damn bucket. Wastin' booze? That's a paddlin'...

GilbertWham
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2014-01-27T22:25:42Z —
#26

I stick with rum. It seems to help.

AliceWeir
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2014-01-27T22:25:48Z —
#27

K. Found the cure for the eyeball rolling. Seems to be, grinning and chuckling to oneself. Haven't tried it with oil, though.

I just...don't know whether to be more impressed that you will not allow anything whatsoever to quell that wonderfully inquisitive nature, or to be more apalled that you will not allow anything whatsoever to quell that wonderfully inquisitive nature.

Just. Don't.

(Please, never change!)

GilbertWham
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2014-01-27T22:27:29Z —
#28

Christ, I must be worth fuck-all by this point then...

AliceWeir
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2014-01-27T22:27:54Z —
#29

Mmmmmm'yah. Thing is, with rum, after a while they just roll into the upward position and stay there...

GilbertWham
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2014-01-27T22:30:35Z —
#30

/renier wolfcastle voice/ That's the point. \renier wolfcastle voice\

Medievalist
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2014-01-27T22:33:36Z —
#31

Chesterfield:

I think bourbon would work well. It's going to kill a lot more bacteria than oil will.

Seriously, that's an old timey remedy for abscessed teeth, you know? Every time you get sober enough to feel the pain, you swish whisky around the tooth until it goes numb (or you do). Eventually the tooth splits and the whisky gets in and kills all the bacteria - and the pain of strong alcohol on inflamed flesh is considerably less than that of an untreated abscess, btw.

Only problem is the whisky tooth cure can take a long time. I knew a guy when I was young and penniless who washed an abscessed molar with Old Crow every twenty minutes or so for at least a week and a half until it finally split. He was a danger to himself and others most of the time anyhow, and a week-plus drunk sure didn't help that situation...

Marya
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2014-01-27T22:40:25Z —
#32

It could be that the abrasiveness of toothpaste is a small problem, and that the oil dissolves the bio-film better than simple H2O wouldn't.The only problem I can see is the lack of regular fluoride.

Good god, I wish there was a specific antibiotic against dental caries.

jansob1
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2014-01-27T22:46:23Z —
#33

My brother in law is a dentist, so here's the last word forever:

"People did it i the Depression because oil was cheap. Probably does an okay job if you are really religious about it, but way grosser and less effective than Crest. Flouride rocks. Is this in Portland where people are doing it?"

He didn't actually type "Hipster Douchbags", but I think that's the last sentence in a nutshell.

crenquis
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2014-01-27T22:53:20Z —
#34

Ya, but it will be like trying to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop - the world might never know.One swish, two swish, swallow.

crenquis
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2014-01-27T22:55:22Z —
#35

Just find the 5th dentist... He probably doesn't approve of the other stuff because his thing is oil pullin'.

samsa
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2014-01-27T22:56:47Z —
#36

Refusal to brush one's teeth would be grounds for divorce for any sensible individual.

Space_Monkey
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2014-01-27T22:58:15Z —
#37

Fluoride does rock. I've had several dentists tell me I should thank my parents for making sure I got fluoride treatments when I was a kid. One thing that really strikes me about the anti-fluoridation movement, is that it's a bunch of middle class people with time on their hands to worry about stupid shit, who could easily afford a filter for their water if they're that worried about it, trying to stop a program that has the most significant benefits for poor people who don't get good dental care as children and don't necessarily use fluoridated toothpaste to brush their teeth every night.

sitaramdas
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2014-01-27T22:59:16Z —
#38

I do this! I was taught with sesame oil. which is better for my ayurvedic constitution (dosha), especially in the winter. coconut oil is too cold for me in the winter. I was told to hold it in for 21 minutes, because that is how long it takes for the blood to circulate through the entire body (i don't know if that is true). I was also told that it pulls toxins out of the system, and that it comes out very toxic. I was told to be careful where i spit it, and not to let the cat lick it up, because it will kill her. also, if it seems like its hard to hold it in for too long, you probably have too much in there.

it should be noted that i also brush my teeth.

technogeekagain
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2014-01-27T23:07:38Z —
#39

Just use an antiseptic mouthwash for 1 minute. (After flossing and brushing.) That actually does some good. This ... you might as well pour the oil into your navel for 20 minutes. (Did you know that makes a good replacement for a gazing crystal?)

LyleHopwood
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2014-01-27T23:18:59Z —
#40

The first thing that came to mind when I read this was the way we treat trees with dormant oil. The oil suffocates the resting insects. However, I seem to recall (without bothering to google it) that mouth bacteria are at least facultative anerobes, so they'd be tough to suffocate.Or maybe as someone suggested up above, the oil breaks up the hydrophobic layer of a biofilm...I'll stick with toothpaste and a brush myself.